Software development productivity: metrics and measurement

Abstract

This report looks at measuring oneself as an individual tries to understand how to improve his/her contribution to the quality software. This report considers what productivity is, how to measure productivity, and how productivity and quality are influenced by our teams and tools. James R Johnson stated in 1977 "In This scientific world, Productivity is only productivity if it is measurable". The interest in productivity is based on this fact. Even though there exist several models to measure software productivity for development, the models to measure maintenance are rarity. This report proposes a model for measuring software maintenance productivity based on the facts of the Author's organization. The validation of the model against the available organizational data indicates that it is possible to predict the effort with +/- 5%.